Pandora the Curious (Goddess Girls) Book Blast

The Goddess Girls series, by Joan Holub and Suzanne Williams puts a modern spin on classic Greek myths. Follow the ins and outs of divine social life where the most privileged godboys and goddessgirls in the Greek pantheon hone their mythical skills.

• Athena the Brain Finding out she’s a goddess and being sent to Mount Olympus brings Athena new friends, a weird dad, and the meanest girl in mythology—Medusa! 
• Persephone the Phony Hiding her feelings works fine for Persephone until she meets a guy she can be herself with—Hades, the bad-boy of the Underworld. 
• Aphrodite the Beauty Sure Aphrodite is beautiful, but it’s not always easy being the goddessgirl of love. 
• Artemis the Brave She may be the goddess of the hunt, but that doesn’t mean Artemis always feels brave. 
• Athena the Wise Zeus says Heracles has to do twelve tasks or he'll get kicked out of MOA! Although she's not sure it's wise, Athena agrees to help out. 
• Aphrodite the Diva Isis claims she's the goddess of love? Ha! But to keep the title all to herself, Aphrodite has to find the perfect match for Pygmalion, the most annoying boy ever. 
• Artemis the Loyal It’s time for the annual Olympic Games, and Artemis and her friends are not happy. It’s boys only. Not fair! 
• Medusa the Mean Medusa wants to be more like her two sisters and the other kids at Mount Olympus Academy -- immortal. Is that too much to ask? 
• The Girl Games (Goddess Girls Super Special) Listen in on what all four goddess girls are thinking as Mount Olympus Academy hosts visitors from many lands--including an adorable kitten!The first-ever standalone superspecial in the Goddess Girls series! 
• Pandora the Curious One of the few mortals at Mount Olympus Academy, Pandora is famous for her mega quizzical nature--not that she thinks there's anything wrong with curiosity of course!
• Pheme the Gossip (Apr. 3, 2013) 
• Persephone the Daring (Aug. 7, 2013) 

The Goddess Girls

Author Suzanne Williams



Suzanne Williams is the award-winning author of nearly 40 books for children, from picture books and easy readers to chapter books and middle grade fiction series. A former elementary school librarian, she lives near Seattle. Her picture book Library Lil (illustrated by Steven Kellogg) won the New Mexico children's choice award in 2000 and was on several other state award lists. She is co-author (with Joan Holub) of the popular Goddess Girls series(for ages 8 - 12) and Heroes in Training (ages 6 - 11). Other series include Fairy Blossoms and Princess Power.

Website * Blog

Author Joan Holub



I graduated from college in Texas with a fine arts degree, and then freelanced as an art director at a graphic design firm for eight years. I dreamed of working in children's books, so I moved to New York City and became associate art director in Scholastic trade books, where I designed books for children and worked with editors and illustrators. It was a great job.



I illustrated my first published children's book in 1992 and soon began illustrating full time. I began completing manuscripts and mailing them out to publishers in the early 1990s. In 1996, I sold my first two manuscripts -- Boo Who? A Spooky Lift-the-Flap Book (Scholastic) and Pen Pals (Grosset & Dunlap). Yippee!



Now I write full time and have written and/or illustrated over 130 children's books. Creating books that entertain, inform, and interest children (and me) is a fabulous job that I truly love.

Twitter * Website * Blog

Book Blast Giveaway

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Ends 12/16/12

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Reviewing 2012

I'm a big fan of setting goals and writing to-do lists. It's the only way I can accomplish all I have to do. This time of year, I sit back and reflect on how I've done. I'm also starting to put together goals for 2013.

Personal Goals

• Going Green - I wanted to make more of an effort this year to reduce our family's carbon foot print. My goal was to cut our trash down to two bags a week, in addition to changing cleaning products around the house. How did we do? Not a total failure. I donated more and recycled more than usual. I hit the two bag goal some weeks, but most of the time it was three bags. I switched from chemical disinfecting wipes, but the horrible smell was a deterrent. I ended up going back to my usual brand. I have, however, stopped using some of those disposable wipes for cleaning and instead use washable towels.
• Participate in reading challenges - I decided to participate this year in four reading challenges at The Book Connection. I completed the 2012 EBOOK CHALLENGE, but will fall short on all the others. Because I was so busy this year, my reading time was greatly reduced. I usually catch up while we are in North Carolina, but since the family joined us for a good portion of the vacation, and because the hubby came down with pink eye and couldn't drive much going home, I didn't read the ten or so books I normally do. I've still managed to read 118 books between my two main blogs: The Book Connection and The Children's and Teens' Book Connection. This is around 50 less than in 2011 and around 55 less than in 2010. My hope is to catch up in 2013, so I can open my blogs up to new requests again.
• Blog five days a week - Well, I wanted to, but with running so many blogs, it's just not possible to make sure I blog here or there every week day. I would actually like to expand the reach of my Christian book blog, but that will all depend on whether or not I find a job outside my home.
• Eat healthier - Ha, ha, ha. I keep saying it. I know I need to do it. I just don't like it. I'm getting older, and eating a more balanced diet will be important to me staying healthy. I guess it's just too easy to snack too often when I'm home by myself. I still plan to work on this goal next year.
• Exercise more - Here's another funny one. I hate exercise, but right now I can't stand to look at my body in a mirror. I'm only out of shape in the middle, and I'm not even considered overweight, but I am 20 pounds heavier than I used to be. I'm hoping Santa will bring me an exercise bike to get started.

Professional Goals

• Seek representation - Being represented by an agent is one of my dreams. I love the small presses that I've dealt with so far, but I want to move forward in my career. I met with an agent this year at a writers conference, even though I knew she didn't represent Christian children's fiction. I still feel it's good experience to talk to an agent face-to-face. I couldn't afford to travel to a Christian writers conference, so I chose the local one I usually attend. I'm praying I'll be able to swing at least one Christian writers conference next year. In the meantime, I'll start sending out more email and snail mail queries in 2013.
• Submit two manuscripts - I submitted one, which is now under contract with Guardian Angel Publishing. It will be my second book with them, but my third children's book when it is released. No date on that yet, but hopefully my new book, A Christmas Kindness, will be out soon.
• Finish Amelia's Mission - I love this historical middle grade novel I've been working on, but research became an obstacle. There are fourteen rough chapters completed, but I didn't get any further. The good news is that I think I've finally performed the right type of research to bring the rest of the story to life. Maybe I'll be able to complete the first draft in 2013. 
• Find a job - If this were 1987 or 1997, I would have three job offers by now. When I decided to stop working on book tours to concentrate on finding a job outside the home, I knew it would be tough. I've been home for nine years, and while I've kept up my skills, working for someone else is very different than working for another person. It's hard to give up a flexible schedule. I'm not sure what 2013 looks like in this area, but hopefully God will guide me in the right direction.

What were your goals for 2012? How did you do? 

Free for Kindle: The Three Gifts by Daris Howard

A beautiful Christmas story about three young men who are convicted of mugging little children for their Halloween candy. Instead of sentencing them to jail, as is expected, the judge sentences them to 100 hours of community service babysitting at the Women's Crisis Center.

They were prepared for jail, but they were not prepared for what was in store for them as the children opened their eyes and hearts and changed their lives.

File Size: 463 KB
Print Length: 144 pages
Page Numbers Source ISBN: 1449961436
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B0069EDCOC

PURCHASE AT AMAZON!

Wordless Wednesday

What Books Are on Your Wish List?

I keep a running wish list on Amazon when I find books I am interested in. This time of year, I encourage my family to check it out. Here are a few books I would love to see under the tree:

Daniel Stashower, the two-time Edgar award–winning author of The Beautiful Cigar Girl, uncovers the riveting true story of the “Baltimore Plot,” an audacious conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln on the eve of the Civil War.

In February of 1861, just days before he assumed the presidency, Abraham Lincoln faced a “clear and fully-matured” threat of assassination as he traveled by train from Springfield to Washington for his inauguration. Over a period of thirteen days the legendary detective Allan Pinkerton worked feverishly to detect and thwart the plot, assisted by a captivating young widow named Kate Warne, America’s first female private eye.

As Lincoln’s train rolled inexorably toward “the seat of danger,” Pinkerton struggled to unravel the ever-changing details of the murder plot, even as he contended with the intractability of Lincoln and his advisors, who refused to believe that the danger was real. With time running out Pinkerton took a desperate gamble, staking Lincoln’s life—and the future of the nation—on a “perilous feint” that seemed to offer the only chance that Lincoln would survive to become president. Shrouded in secrecy—and, later, mired in controversy—the story of the “Baltimore Plot” is one of the great untold tales of the Civil War era, and Stashower has crafted this spellbinding historical narrative with the pace and urgency of a race-against-the-clock thriller.

Originally published from 1932 to 1943, Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House books are classics of children’s literature, beloved by millions. But readers who last enjoyed them as children may be astonished at the quiet poetry of Wilder’s prose and the force and poignancy of her portrait of the lives of American pioneers. Now The Library of America and editor Caroline Fraser present a definitive boxed set that affirms Wilder’s place in the American canon, reintroducing these enduring works to readers young and old. Here, for the first time in two collectible hardcover volumes, are all eight Little House novels—brilliant narratives of the early life of Laura Ingalls and her family as they grow up with the country in the woods, on the plains, and finally in the small towns of the advancing American frontier—plus the posthumous novella The First Four Years, which recounts the early years of the author’s marriage to Almanzo Wilder. As a special feature, four rare autobiographical pieces address the need for historical accuracy in children’s literature, reveal real life events not included in the novels, and answer the inevitable question: what happened next?

Christmas Eve 1894

All Margaret Campbell wants for Christmas is a safe journey home. When her plans for a festive holiday with her family in Stirling crumble beneath the weight of her brother’s bitterness, the young schoolteacher wants nothing more than to return to the students she loves and the town house she calls home.

Then an unexpected detour places her in the path of Gordon Shaw, a handsome newspaperman from Glasgow, who struggles under a burden of remorse and shame.

When the secret of their shared history is revealed, will it leave them tangled in a knot of regret? Or might their past hold the threads that will bind their future together?

As warm as a woolen scarf on a cold winter’s eve, A Wreath of Snow is a tender story of love and forgiveness, wrapped in a celebration of all things Scottish, all things Victorian, and, especially, all things Christmas.

What books are on your wish list?

Book Spotlight: A Lifght in the Window by Julie Lessman

One Woman. Two Men.
One stirs her pulse and the other her faith.
But who will win her heart?

Marceline Murphy is a gentle beauty with a well-founded aversion to rogues. But when two of Boston's most notorious pursue her, she encounters a tug-of-war of the heart she isn’t expecting. Sam O’Rourke is the childhood hero she’s pined for, the brother of her best friend and a member of the large, boisterous family to which she longs to be a part. So when his best friend Patrick O’Connor joins in pursuit of her affections, the choice seems all too clear. Sam is from a family of faith and Patrick is not, two rogues whose wild ways clash head-on with Marcy’s—both in her faith and in her heart.

While overseeing the Christmas play fundraiser for the St. Mary’s parish soup kitchen—A Light in the Window—Marcy not only wrestles with her attraction to both men, but with her concern for their spiritual welfare. The play is based on the Irish custom of placing a candle in the window on Christmas Eve to welcome the Holy Family, and for Marcy, its message becomes deeply personal. Her grandmother Mima cautions her to guard her heart for the type of man who will respond to the "light in the window," meaning the message of Christ in her heart. But when disaster strikes during the play, Marcy is destined to discover the truth of the play’s message first-hand when it becomes clear that although two men have professed their undying love, only one has truly responded to “the light in the window.”

File Size: 567 KB
Print Length: 279 pages
Publisher: Ten Talents Press; 1 edition (November 9, 2012)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B0091JZXXK

Purchase from Amazon or Barnes and Noble.

Book Spotlight: Christmas Roses by Amanda Cabot

Celia Anderson doesn't need anything for Christmas except a few more boarders, which are hard to come by in this small mining town. She certainly doesn't have a husband on her Christmas wish list. But when a wandering carpenter finds lodging at her boarding house, she admits that she might remarry if she found the right man--the kind of man who would bring her roses for Christmas. It would take a miracle to get roses during a harsh Wyoming winter. But Christmas, after all, is the time for miracles . . .'

Hardcover: 172 pages
Publisher: Revell (September 1, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0800720040
ISBN-13: 978-0800720049

Purchase from:

Amazon

Barnes and Noble

Christianbook.com